


Team Gajeel

by chaosphoenix123



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, New team at Fairy Tail
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-10-07 16:53:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10365192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaosphoenix123/pseuds/chaosphoenix123
Summary: Gajeel is fed up with Team Natsu being the face of Fairy Tail; so he decides to do something about it. Gathering up some of the remaining members of the guild such as Levy and Mirajane, he aims to form a team that will surpass Salamander's and once again show everyone the might of the Iron Dragon-Slayer. Will Fairy Tail be big enough for these two teams...will Fiore?





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Forming the Team

It was a regular day at the Fairy Tail guild hall outside of Magnolia. It's been a month since the return of the Tenrou group and everyone was rushing about doing as many jobs as possible in hopes of putting Fairy Tail back in the upper rankings of magic guilds within Fiore. That being said the guild hall was near empty as everyone was out on jobs.

Well almost everyone….

Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon-Slayer, was currently sitting at one of the table with a thoughtful look implanted on his face. He had recently come back from visiting his friend and former comrade from his Phantom Lord days', Totomaru, who was now a teacher with his own magic school, the other day and the conversation they had...was enlightening.

A Tavern in Magnolia a few days ago

"I don't get it Totomaru", Gajeel complained as he down his drink in one gulp as he and Totomaru shared a table. Pantherlily was away visiting the Exceed village, so it was just the two of them.

"Don't get what, Gajeel?", The Rainbow Fire mage asked as he casually sipped his beer.

"Phantom Lord used to be the largest guild in Fiore, with several outposts all over the country, even some outside of it", the dragon-slayer groaned, "And you and I used to be two of the five aces the guild had."

"Is there a reason for this explanation?", Totomaru asks, "I was already fully aware of our reputations."

"And that's exactly the problem!", Gajeel yelled as he pounded his fist onto the table causing a resounding bang that echoes throughout the somewhat empty bar, "It seems that nowadays no one recognize who I am! I used to be fear among the dark guilds and the legal guilds! My name garnered respect and fear throughout the whole country!"

"Gajeel-kun, you disappear for seven years alongside Juvia-chan. It's perfectly reasonable for people to forget who you are", Totomaru try to explain.

"No! This started way before all that! After I join Fairy Tail, it seemed my badass reputation fell off to the side for some reason that I can't explain while guys like Salamander and Titania only grew."

"Well to be fair, Fairy Tail did defeat us in the war", Totomaru remind him.

"Me and Salamander's fight came down to the wire, one hit could have decided the whole thing. And from what I heard about yours and the others fights, it wasn't as one-sided as most people believed", Gajeel stated, "So what makes them more famous over me?"

"The fire demon was pretty infamous for the amount of damage he caused on jobs", Totomaru pointed out.

"Yeah, so was I", Gajeel said.

"True", Totomaru agreed.

"Salamander, Titania, and the stripper", Gajeel spoke aloud, "Even seven years of not being around has only diminishes their reputation by a bit, yet people still remember their names."

The duo sat in silence for a moment before a thought occurred to Totomaru.

"Maybe it's not them", he spoke causing Gajeel to throw him a confused look.

"Huh?"

"Well, not them individually", Totomaru try to explain, "The three you mentioned previously, they're a team, are they not?"

"Yeah, they are. It consists of Salamander, Bunny girl, Titania, the stripper, Wendy, Juvia, Salamander's cat, and Wendy's cat", Gajeel counted off.

"Juvia-chan is on their team?", Totomaru asks.

"Recently, beforehand she was stalking the stripper so much when they were out on jobs that eventually Titania just invited her to join so she could at least get a share of the job payment", Gajeel explained.

Totomaru simply nods his head at this before continuing, "Maybe the reason people still remember them is that they're on a team. All their individual fame comes together as one; therefore their fame increases because usually when people remember one of them, they also remember the others as well."

Gajeel put his hand on his chin, thinking over the words Totomaru just said, "So what you're saying is that if I was to form a team of my own, I could be just as famous, if not more, than Salamander and his group?"

"In theory, a group is almost always known better than the individuals that comprise it", Totomaru told him.

"Gihihihihihihi", Gajeel laughs as he begins going through a mental list of everyone he could use to form his new, totally badass, team.

Back at the Fairy Tail Guild Hall

"Gajeel? Gajeeeeelllll?", Levy called out to Gajeel while waving a hand in his face, "You in there somewhere?"

Gajeel snaps out of his thoughts for a moment to look at the Solid Script mage next to him, "Oi, what up shrimp?"

Levy puffs her cheeks out in annoyance at the nickname but doesn't comment on it.

"What are you doing?", Gajeel asks.

"Seeing what's up with you. You have been staring off into nothingness ever since you got here this morning", Levy pointed out, "Something on your mind?"

"I'm going to form a team", Gajeel bluntly told her.

"Excuse me?", Levy was not expecting that answer at all.

"I'm going to form a team like the one Salamander has", Gajeel said again.

"But you and Pantherlily already make a team", Levy pointed out just as said exceed flew over to the table after talking with Master Makarov.

"So what he say?", Gajeel asks the swordsman exceed.

"He says he has no issues with you forming a team of the same size as Happy and the others, as long as it doesn't lead to major conflict within the guild and as long as you promise to minimize the collateral damage on jobs. He also stated that you're going to take full responsibility for everything that happens, including all of the actions of your teammates."

"I think I can manage", Gajeel nods his head, "Now it's time to get our team together."

"You're seriously going through with this, aren't you?", Pantherlily asks.

"Gihihihi, you know it", Gajeel laughs as he looked toward Levy, "And you're the first member of our new team."

"Ehhhhh?! But I'm already on a team", Levy said.

"Yes, and your team is weak; I'm giving you a chance to be on a stronger team", Gajeel said while crossing his arms and smirking.

"But what about Jet and Droy?".

"They'll be okay, they have been doing fine for the past seven years haven't they?", Gajeel told her, "Well, Jet anyway has; Droy needs to get back in shape. Now come on, we have more recruiting to do."

Pantherlily can only facepalm at his dragon-slayer antics as Gajeel proceed to get up and walk over to the bar, taking a sit right in front of Mira all while ignoring Levy's complains.

"Hey, barkeeper girl!",

"Yes, Gajeel?", Mira answers in her sweet voice.

"Join my team!", Gajeel declares.

"Could you at least say please?", Pantherlily pleaded.

Mira gives a them look before asking, "You're forming a team?"

"Damn right I am! No longer am I going to sit back and watch Salamander and his team be the face of Fairy Tail!", Gajeel announced.

"Oh I see", Mira answers as she wipe down the counter, "So then, why are you asking me?"

"I need someone who's equal to Titania in strength and I heard you and her used to be rivals back in the day."

"Yes that's true, but these days I rarely go out on a job; I'm mostly run the tavern here. If anything I only do jobs with Lisanna and Elfman when they need help on one", Mira confessed, "So sorry Gajeel, but I can't be on your team."

"Damn!", Gajeel cursed, "And things were good so far. I got Levy on my team and I-"

"Say that again", Mira suddenly interrupted and Gajeel noticed that she had a slight twinkle in her eyes, but he thought best not to comment on it, "What was that last part you said?"

"I said Levy was on my team", Gajeel said again.

"Hmmm", Mira said to herself as her mind went to work, "Gajeel and Levy on the same team. This could be my chance to get the two of them together. Gajeel is almost like Natsu in a sense when it comes to noticing the signs and Levy way too timid to come out and say anything to him. If I go with them on jobs, I could easily push the two of them together and I could use a little extra cash in my pocket."

Okay Gajeel", Mira finally said after giving it more thought, "I've change my mind and decided to join your team."

"Really?! Fucking sweet", Gajeel boomed, "This day's getting better and better!"

"Is there anyone else who will be joining our team?", Mira asks.

"Well, you see I want our team to be on the same level as Salamander and his team, so he can't find any excuse to use against us when we prove we're better than them", Gajeel explained as he held up his fingers, "For Salamander it's me, for Bunny girl it's Shrimp, for Titania it's you, for Salamander's cat it's Pantherlily, now all I need to get are people to fill in for stripper, Juvia, Wendy, and Wendy's cat."

"And who do you have in mind?", Levy asks.

"Well I figure since stripper uses a Make magic, we need someone who also uses a Make-magic", Gajeel informed them.

"But the only other person in the guild who uses Make-magic is…", Mira started to say.

"Laki, who uses Wood-Make magic", Levy finished.

"Exactly!", Gajeel smirked, "And to balance out for Juvia, I planned on asking that sand dude to join."

"You mean Max?", Mira asks.

"Yeah him", Gajeel said, "I recall seeing his fighting prowess the time Fairy Tail attacked Phantom Lord guild hall all those years back; also I hear he's working on a way to use his sand magic to make himself intangible, like how Juvia does."

"I heard about that too", Mira admitted while Levy simply nodded her head.

"So when are you planning on asking them?", the Solid Script mage wondered.

Gajeel suddenly sweat drops and looks sheepishly at the girl, "Actually, I was hoping you asks them for me."

Levy raises an eyebrow at this and places her hands on her hips, "And may I ask why?"

"To be completely honest; I don't think those two have quite forgiven me for everything I did all those years ago. I think we would have a better chance of them joining if you ask in my stead", Gajeel admitted.

Levy continues staring at Gajeel while a slight glare before finally letting out a sigh, "Fine, I'll go ask them."

"Gihihihihihi, thanks shrimp!", Gajeel says and with that Levy turns around to go see Max and Laki, who were both sitting at different ends of the guild hall.

One hour later

"Alright, it took some convincing but they said they would give it a shot. Mostly because both of them have never been on a team before and they would like to try it out", Levy told the iron dragon slayer as she walked back over to the bar with Max and Laki in tow, "But they have some conditions."

Gajeel slightly growls at this in annoyance but decided to go along with it, "And those are?"

"We want a say in what jobs we take and we want there to be a equal share for the reward", Max explained.

Gajeel growls a little louder this time, but a glare from Pantherlily shut him up, "Fine."

"Alright then, we'll see how this goes", Max said.

"Yes, hopefully this decision won't force us to use our feet to kick ourselves in our buttocks", Laki added in.

"So that make six, we just need two more", Pantherlily counted off.

"Yes, all we need now is a another dragon-slayer!", Gajeel said causing everyone to look at him in shock.

"Come again?", Levy asks, "Why another dragon-slayer?"

"Well to balance out with Wendy. Salamander's team has two dragon-slayers, so we need two dragon slayers", Gajeel explained, "It makes perfect sense."

"Starting to regret my decision right now", Max mumbled, even though Gajeel clearly heard him with his enhance hearing.

"What?! Having another heavy hitter on the team is an awesome idea!"

"And how exactly are you going to convince Laxus to join us? He's still banish in case you forgotten!", Levy yelled.

"Who said anything about me using the Lightning bastard? I don't want someone on my team who's that much stronger than me and has a worse attitude than me, that's suicidal right there", Gajeel replied.

"Then who exactly are you going…no way", Levy started to say before she put two and two together. Gajeel merely smiles at her expression and the shock expressions of the rest of the so-call team, except for Pantherlily, who knew exactly who Gajeel was talking about.

"That's right", as he looks out the window toward the forest line where a certain purple-hair teenage boy was lying down, looking up at the sky watching the clouds roll was muscular, mostly around his abdominal, chest, and a little in his arms. He was wearing a long, black, sleeveless open jacket with orange edges that revealed a portion of his muscular chest and held closed around his waist by an white sash tied by a knot on his right hip. His legs were covered by loose, white pants reaching down below his knees, paired with low, dark laced boots. He sported a number of scars across his body; the only place not affected was his face. His eyes held a distance stare in them, as though he was thinking of days long passed.

This was the same boy who seven years ago was kidnapped from the forest outside of Magnolia by the Dragon King for unknown reasons. His memory was then almost completely wipe before he was force into training by Acnologia. Later on, Acnoloiga violently implanted a lacrima into him and then mysteriously dropped him off, bloody and battered, outside of the guild hall merely a week before the Tenrou group showed back up. The boy who the Magic Council has been keeping a close eye on since….

The son of the Fairy Tail's fourth guild master and the one dubbed by the Magic Council as the Third Generation Apocalypse Dragon-Slayer: Romeo Conbolt.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Lost Dragon-Slayer

"Gajeel, are you sure about this?", Levy asks, her voice wavering slightly while doing so.

"Of course I'm sure about this. The squirt is a powerhouse, you all saw the same thing I did that day", Gajeel responded.

"All we saw that day was a fourteen year old boy severe injure four grown man and almost kill a fifth. If it wasn't for Master Makarov, Erza, and Mira physically stopping him, he would have done it", Levy pointed out.

"That Twilight Ogre bastards had it coming", Gajeel shrugged, "They were extorting money from the guild."

"Well technically, we did own them money", Max pointed out.

"So you guys were fine with them wrecking the place?", Gajeel asks, "I mean, the squirt sure as hell wasn't."

"Actually he just sat there and watched for most of the time. It wasn't until their leader swung that mace of his at him that he reacted", Max said.

"That's a understatement", Pantherlily spoke up, "The whole Twilight Ogre group is still recovering in the hospital, their injuries would have been fatal if it wasn't for Wendy. The boy was definitely not trained to hold back in a fight."

"Okay, so maybe the squirt goes a little overboard sometimes", Gajeel said causing Levy to look over at him.

"Macao's still recovering from his injuries as well, remember?", she reminded him, "He's out for another two weeks."

"Yeah, he was unfortunate in being the one to find out the hard way that Acnologia trained Romeo to attack anyone that surprises him. Master Makarov said himself that probably the only reason Macao isn't dead is because Romeo faintly remember that he was his father and stop himself", Max said, "And the fact that Master Makarov and Mira were nearby also helps."

"So that's why I don't believe that he is one of the wiser choices for joining the team", Levy stated, "I know none of it is his fault, but he's still a loose cannon. Master Makarov hasn't allowed him to do a single job and I can't blame him.

"To be honest, I forgot about him at first", Gajeel confess, "It was Pantherlily who brought him up."

"Pantherlily?", as Levy turns toward the exceed who was standing there with his arms cross and eyes close.

"The boy was taken away, most of his memories were remove, and he was broken down by Acnologia for reasons that even he doesn't know. According to Romeo himself, he received almost daily beatings, put through tortuous training, and forcibly had a lacrima painfully implanted into his body. And those are only the parts he's willingly to tell us", Pantherlily explained, "The worst thing you can do to people who have gone through ordeals such as that is isolate them."

"So you think him being part of a team will integrate back into the life that was taken from him?" Levy asks, "Make him feel like he belongs somewhere."

"That's exactly the reason; like I said the boy was trained to go all out in a fight, no matter who his opponent is."

"Also the old man probably thinks this will be a great way to help him learn to control his strength", Max spoke up.

"If you live in a broken house, you either fix it up or you abandon it. You don't wait for the day to come when it's beyond repair", Gajeel suddenly said while having a distance look in his eye, as though remembering something from his past.

"Gajeel?", Levy speaks softly to him causing to snap out of his trance. He notices that everyone was looking at him now.

"What was that about?", Mira asks, "That was almost sage-like advice right there."

"It's something I remember the old man telling me when I first joined up. He told me that I wasn't exactly evil, just misunderstood and that he wanted to make sure I got better before I was beyond help", Gajeel explained, "Maybe he see that in Romeo as well."

"Laki, you been surprisingly quiet this whole time", Max states as he looks toward the Wood-Make mage, "This choice affects you as well; you have anything you want to say?"

She sits there for a moment, lost in thought before she answers, "He has had a hard life, maybe this will make it a little easier for him."

"So we're all in agreement here?", Pantherlily asks while looking around at the group, "No one has a problem with having Romeo on the team?"

"I never had a problem with it", Gajeel boast.

"It was tough watching Macao struggle through the years after Romeo was taken while still trying to be the guild master", Max stated, "The least I could do for him after all his hard work is help his son get better."

Laki simply nods her head.

"I'm still on the fence about all this but I'm willing to give it a shot", Levy says.

"Don't worry too much shrimp", Gajeel reassured her, "If anything happens I'll be sure to protect you, all you have to do is stay behind me, just like Tenrou."

For some odd reason, Mira was the only one to catch the radiant blush that form on Levy's face after that comment.

"Yes! Being on this team is definitely going to help me make GaLe a reality, then maybe I can work on NaLu and Gruvia!", Mira practically squealed inside her head before realizing that Pantherlily was talking to her.

"Sorry, what were you saying?", The Satan Soul mage asks.

"What do you think about the decision to ask Romeo to join the team?"

"I'm okay with it; though I suspect that there was another reason why I was ask to join, not just because I equal Ezra in strength", Mira added.

"And you would be corrected in that assumption. Master Makarov specifically stated that if you didn't join this team; then he wouldn't allow Romeo to join either, for he wanted at least one S-Class to be able to keep an eye on him", Pantherlily explained.

"Gajeel wasn't enough?", Max wondered.

"While Master Makarov believed that Gajeel is more than capable of stopping Romeo from severe hurting someone, he wants Mira around for extra insurance. If you recall; ever since the Twilight Ogre incident and the incident with his father, the Magic Council has been keeping a close eye on the boy. This will be more to appease them than the guild", Pantherlily said, "If I recall correctly, they weren't too keen about him become a guild mage."

"Well then", Mira says as she walks away from behind the counter and toward the door, "Guess I'll go ask him then."

"Oi! This is my team, I'll ask him!", Gajeel shouts before a look from Mira shuts him up.

"Ever since Macao got hurt, Romeo has been staying here at the guild hall so Master Makarov can keep an eye on him. Therefore, he helps me and Kinana get set up in the morning", Mira begun, "Sadly, due to the fact that he hardly ever leaves the guild hall grounds alone, Master Makarov and myself are the ones he talks to the most."

"Aren't you the one who also goes with him to his therapy sessions?", Max asks.

"Yes I do, that's why I feel I'm the most qualify for convincing him to join", Mira states.

'What makes you think he needs convincing?", Max asks.

"Because Romeo doesn't remember you guys that well, so it might be difficult for any of ya'll to talk him", Mira says as she goes through the doors, "Plus there's the other reason why."

Outside the Guild Hall

Romeo continues to watch the clouds dance across the blue sky. To him the peace and quiet was paradise, especially after everything he been through the past seven years. Most days he would lay there for hours on end watching the clouds roll by.

He try at first conversing with the other members of the guild like Guild Master Makarov had asks him to; but whenever he did he got the distinct feeling that everyone was uneasy around him, so eventually he just stop. Nowadays he mostly only talked to Master Makarov himself and Mirajane.

And his child therapist.

"I can't recall the last time I could just lay here and be non-productive" Romeo thought, "Most of my time was spent on training or beatings with the Master."

Romeo laid there for a moment before mentally chastised himself, "The child therapist says the first step in me breaking away from my past with Acnologia was to first stop referring to him as "Master"."

Before Romeo could go any further in his thoughts his nose pick up the scent of the eldest Strauss sibling and it was getting stronger. Soon a shadow was looming over him and the S-Class mage was smiling down at him.

"Hello Romeo,"

"Hello Mirajane", he responded causing a frown to appear on the girl face.

"Now Romeo, I thought we talked about this; you can call me Mira like everyone else."

Romeo only stares at her for a time, never once showing emotion on his facial features, "Apologies, I'll try to remember in the future to address you as such."

Mira could only let out a disappointed sigh as she sat down next to the boy who went back to watching the clouds.

"So how's your father doing?", Mira asks.

"I visited him the other day in the hospital with Master Makarov. Once again he tried to assure me that he was entirely at fault for what happened and that I shouldn't feel responsible whatsoever for his injuries, even though I was the one who inflicted them upon him", Romeo explained in an almost monotone voice, completely devoid of emotions, "I am… confuse by this notion. If anything I should shoulder the blame for what happen to him."

"It wasn't your fault Romeo", Mira try to explain, "You couldn't have known that your dad was going to surprise you that morning with a breakfast in bed."

"I could have informed him at an earlier time that the Mas-", Romeo stop himself before continuing, "That Acnologia trained me to always be on guard, and that any attempts to surprise me are dealt with extreme prejudice."

"The fact that you forcefully stop yourself from severe hurting him proves that you are starting to break away from Acnologia's influence", Mira reassured him, "You could have killed him, but you didn't."

"I merely hesitated for a moment, I did not cease my actions. There is a major difference between the two", Romeo corrected her, "The main reason my father is still alive is the fact that you, by a major coincidence, happen to be walking by alongside Guild Master Makarov and heard all that transpired."

"Nevertheless, that single moment saved your father's life", Mira said.

"I suppose you are right in that sense", Romeo says before turn his head to look at Mira "Is there something else you wanted to talk about? As much as I appreciate your presence, I have concluded that you didn't come all the way out here just to talk about my father."

"Awww, that's sweet Romeo", Mira giggled, "But you're right. I came out here to talk to you about joining a team to do jobs with."

Romeo once again stares at Mira through emotionless eyes for a few seconds all while the ex-supermodel stare back, never once breaking eye contact with him.

"I feel that would be most unwise", Romeo began, "You and I are both aware of the danger that I pose when I'm around people."

"And there's the main reason" Mira thought before she argued, "But being on a team could help you learn to control your strength, plus it would make you more sociable."

"I feel the positive aspects of this arrangement don't outweigh the negative ones", Romeo countered, "You risk me hurting someone over the possibly that I'll learn not to; a possibly that is not 100% guarantee."

"Natsu learned to curb his strength to a degree by doing jobs with other people. Not to the degree we all wanted him to, but still he did", Mira told Romeo causing the boy to turn his head back to the clouds overhead.

"The Fire Dragon-Slayer", Romeo said as he stares upward, "My past life before Mas-Acnologia feels like a dream, I don't even clearly remember the day I was taken. I have a few faint memories from my life before, but for some reason the Fire Dragon-Slayer sticks out in most of them."

"Acnologia did everything he could to make you forget about your past, even going as far as trying to erase your memories. Guess we were lucky that the Dragon King wasn't all that proficient in that field", Mira thought sadly before speaking, "You used to look up to him. He was your idol."

"I find it hard to believe that I looked up to someone with such a destructive nature", Romeo said, "But he does have other aspects that I could see myself admiring back when I was younger. He's strong, brave, and loyal to his friends. Also, despite his aggressive behavior sometimes, he does try to do the right thing."

Mira couldn't help but smile at this. For her this was a sign that it was possible that the old Romeo could one day return.

"So about this team…?", Mira began.

"Who's all going to be a part of it; beside myself should I join?", Romeo asked.

"Gajeel, Levy, Pantherlily, Max, Laki, and I", Mira counted off.

Romeo lays in silence while picturing all the people she had named off and remembering everything he has observed about them in the past month.

"Hmm, from what I have seen of the people you have listed off, that would make a…interesting team", Romeo commented, "The Iron Dragon-Slayer is powerful in his own right, though he is quick to anger. His exceed companion on the other hand keeps his emotions in check and is a skilled swordsman. The Solid Script mage intelligence far surpasses her actual magic abilities, but she can be a formidable opponent when she needs to be. I feel though that the Sandstorm Mage and the Wood-Make Mage are in the lower tier of the guild in terms of raw power, but their experiences and proficient with their magic could easily make up for it."

Romeo sits up straight and turns around to address Mira.

"I don't have to going into detail about your magical abilities. I already know by experience how powerful you can be. You being around in case I should try to hurt someone reassures me."

"So you're saying you'll join?", Mira asks with hopefulness evident in her voice.

"I'm saying I'll give this "team thing" an opportunity to prove it's worth the effort", Romeo answers, "I assume Master Makarov has already approved all this?"

"He has", Mira says as she stands up, "Now let's go inside and meet the rest of the team."

Preview for the Chapter 3

"Greetings", Romeo began, "I hear that you're going to be the leader of this-"

"You need a cat!", Gajeel bluntly interrupts.

"I beg your pardon?" Romeo asks.

'Every dragon-slayer needs a cat! If you're going to be on this team, you're getting a cat!"

"Baka", Pantherlily face palm himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_ **The Consequences of an Unannounced Visit** _

An awkward silence penetrated the air of the guild hall as Gajeel, Pantherlily, Levy, Max, and Laki all sat at a table by the bar on one end of the building while Mira and Romeo stood at the doorway entrance at the other end. The two groups could only stare at one another from across the way; though the voided stare Romeo was sending their way was unnerving Levy to quite a degree.

" _Keep it together, Levy. You said that you were willing to give it a shot_ ", she told herself as she tried to look anywhere but Romeo's eyes.

Mira picked up on this and nudge Romeo forward a little.

"You should go greet them", she whispers into his ear.

"To what purpose would that achieved?" the boy asks.

Mira resisted the urge to shake her head, "It's a good start in getting to know your new teammates."

Romeo thinks on it for a moment before deciding that she was right.

"I see the logic in your words", Romeo said, "I shall go and greet them. If I may, who exactly is going to be leading this team?"

"Gajeel is the one that thought of the idea", Mira answered.

"The Iron-Dragon Slayer?", Romeo asks to which Mira nods.

Romeo then started to walk over to the group, while doing so Gajeel couldn't help but noticed that he could barely hear Romeo's footsteps despite the fact that the guild hall was empty except for the group and the old man in the back room.

" _The squirt's quiet. I wonder if that has anything to do with Acnologia",_ he thought just as Romeo reaches the table.

"So I have been informed that you required my presence for this team you're putting together", Romeo says.

"That's correct", Pantherlily spoke up, "and we would very much appreciate it if you could lend your strength to this newly formed team."

Romeo then looks at Gajeel.

"Greetings", Romeo began, "I hear that you're going to be the leader of this-"

"You need a cat!", Gajeel bluntly interrupts.

"I beg your pardon?" Romeo asks, confused at the outburst, though his face didn't show it.

'Every dragon-slayer needs a cat! If you're going to be on this team, you're getting a cat!", while nodding his head in a sagely manner.

"Baka", Pantherlily face palm himself.

"I fail to see the notion on how me owning a "cat", as you say, would make me more of a dragon-slayer", Romeo replies.

"Because I have a cat, Wendy has a cat, and Salamander has a cat", Gajeel explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"If I recall correctly, neither the Lightning Dragon Slayer nor the Poison Dragon Slayer have a "cat" either", Romeo pointed out.

"They weren't trained by dragons, so they don't count", Gajeel countered.

"But I, who was forcibly trained by the same dragon that try to kill you does?"

"Minor details", Gajeel answered, "It's not like everyone else hasn't try to kill me."

This time Mira didn't resist shaking her head in shame alongside Pantherlily and Levy.

" _You're doing this for GaLe, you're doing this for GaLe",_ she tells herself.

"Apologies, I still fail to see the logic", Romeo continued as though nothing happened.

"I don't blame you for not seeing the logic, you're a young dragon-slayer after all, squirt", Gajeel said in a sage-like manner.

"I would much appreciated it if you would call me by my birth-name", Romeo piped up.

" _Kind of ironic since he's the one saying that seeing how he address everyone by their title instead of their name",_ Mira thinks, " _But then again, that's all he can remember for most people."_

"But the fact remain that you're getting a cat", Gajeel continued on as if Romeo never spoke.

Romeo just stood there staring directly at Gajeel and only Gajeel, his eyes never changing, never moving, not even in the slightest.

"Romeo?", Mirajane said from behind him and she reaches out to touch him all the shoulder when suddenly a bluish white wave of energy spark off of him, causing her to reel her hand back in surprise and catching everyone else off-guard. Levy quite literally was half-way out of her sit and almost to Gajeel when she realized what she was doing. She sits back down with a sheepish look on her face and turns her head away from the Iron-Dragon Slayer who was looking back at her with an eyebrow raise.

Pantherlily, in all of his supreme badassness is unfazed.

"Whoa!", Max yells as he was the closet to Romeo falls back in his chair into Laki's lap in surprise. She looks down at him and he looks up at her and the two share a awkward moment of silence before Laki asks, "Are you going to start paying to lay here from now on?"

To Max, (who has known Laki for almost a decade and fully understood the weird way she talked) that translated to: "Could you get off my lap?" to which he did.

"Sorry."

Laki merely shrugs as she and Max go back to looking at Romeo who was stilling giving off small waves of the strange energy for a moment before it suddenly stops.

"My apologies", Romeo finally spoke, "I'm nearing the time where I have to burn off the extra amount of magic I have created.

Everyone, excluding Mira, stares at Romeo with baffle looks on their faces.

"Come again", Pantherlily finally asks to which Mira lightly slaps her hand against her forehead.

"Ah, that's right", she says, "Master Makarov hasn't informed the rest of the guild yet."

"Hasn't told us what?", Gajeel inquired.

"The lacrima inside of Romeo seems to constantly produce magic over time and when his body reaches its limit it starts to discharge it in small amounts", Mira explained.

"Is it safe?", Levy asks.

"In small amounts they're harmful to no one", Romeo spoke, "But as the lacrmia produces more magic than it can discharge, the power behind them builds up. Back then Master used to have me use my magic in an exceeding amount in order to prevent this from happening. But since my return I have yet to use my magic to that extent. If I continue along this path, eventually the discharge could prove fatal to anyone, including myself."

"Why would Acnologia put something so dangerous inside of you?", Levy asks.

"The master said that it was experimental and highly unstable", Romeo answered.

"Romeo", Mira called from behind him in a slightly disappointed tone, "What has Dr. Ghert told you?"

"That the first step toward distancing myself from my past is to stop referring to Acnologia as master", Romeo answered.

"Exactly."

"Apologies."

"You seem to be saying that a lot nowadays", Mira murmured.

"Apologies", Romeo says once again, reminding Mira that he too had enhance hearing.

Mira lets out a sigh.

"Moving on", Pantherlily interjected, "I too fail to see why Romeo need a exceed companion. With all due respect to both Happy and Carla, I am far more useful than either one of them in a fight."

"Like I said before, because he's a dragon-slayer."

"Now you're being unreasonable, Gajeel", Pantherlily groaned, "Laxus doesn't have a exceed and he does just fine."

"The lightning bastard not on my team!", Gajeel argued getting in Pantherlily's face though the exceed didn't seem the slight bit faze.

"If I agree to your condition, will you two cease your senseless argument?", Romeo suddenly asked, catching everyone's attention.

Gajeel merely stares at him for a moment, "Yeah, we will."

"Then we should proceed with obtaining a exceed with all due haste", Romeo said.

"Romeo, you don't have to get a exceed if you don't want to", Mira says as she comes up next to him and puts her hand on his shoulder.

"Actually he doe-", Gajeel started to say before another look from Mira shuts him up.

"Like I was saying, you don't need to have a exceed if you don't want one. This team is to help you become more socially adept and learn to control your strength, not make you look more like a "proper" dragon-slayer", Mira explained.

"To the contrary, over the past month", Romeo started to say, "I have observe the interaction between the Iron, Fire, and Sky dragon-slayers and their exceed companions and I feel that having a exceed companion of my own will accomplish both you and the Iron-Dragon Slayer's goals, at least in the social sense."

"My name's Gajeel", the man grunted before Pantherlily slapped him upside the head.

"Oi! What the hell was that for?!"

"You were there when Porlyusica explain that Romeo can't seem to remember names, only titles of most of the people in his life. Master Makarov, Macao, Mira and Porlyusica herself are the only exception. And besides you were calling him squirt just a few minutes ago", the exceed told Gajeel.

"Thank you, exceed master swordsman", Romeo said causing Pantherlily to turn around at him with a raise eyebrow.

"Exceed master swordsman?"

"I have the distinct feeling that if I keep referring to you as the Iron Dragon-Slayer's exceed companion, it will eventually begin to wear on your patience", Romeo explained, "For the Fire dragon-slayer's exceed companion, I refer to him as the fish exceed sometimes and the Sky dragon-slayer's exceed companion as the precognition exceed."

"Hmm", Pantherlily thought for a moment, (while trying not to laugh at the title given to Happy) before giving Romeo the thumbs up, "I approve, but exceed swordsman is fine, if you will."

"Very well then."

"Well, let's go get us a-", Gajeel began to say before Mira held up a hand.

"It's one hour away from the sun going down and the Exceed village is a four hour walk from here. Also I still have to lock up the guild hall", Mira says, "So this can be put off until tomorrow."

"But-" Gajeel try to argue.

"Tomorrow", Mira says once again, only this time a magic circle appears over her head, the very one that would transform her into a demon, "Okay?"

Gajeel sweat-drop at the unspoken threat, "Yeah, got it."

"Good, see you all tomorrow then", Mira says as moves to the tavern to start cleaning up, "Romeo, could you come give me a hand here?"

"As you wish", as the boy moves to follow her.

Max and Laki share a look at one another that convey that they were both thinking the same thing…

" _What did we just get ourselves into?"_

_ **Two Hours Later** _

"Okay Romeo, I'm heading home for the night. Be sure to listen to Master Makarov and don't cause him any trouble", Mira says as she prepares to walk through the door.

"I understand, Mirajane."

"Romeo."

"Mira."

"That's better, you have a good night", as she waves him goodbye and walk out the door.

Romeo stands there in the middle of the empty guild hall for a couple of minutes before moving to check up on Master Makarov. He comes up to the door to the back room and quietly opens it. He peeks his head in to see that Guild Master Makarov had fallen asleep while going over some paperwork.

"Well, that effectively ends any hopes of conversation for the night", Romeo tells himself as he closes the door and heads toward stairs that led toward the attic where a few beds were set up.

He disrobed down to his pants and laid down in the bed, staring up at the ceiling until sleep overcame him.

_ **A While later** _

_He was having that dream again._

_The one he's been having ever since he got back home. The same one where he is running through a forest late at night while the moon shone high and the rain was coming down hard. He wasn't running out of fear though. No, he was running out of sadness, if the tears in his eyes were any indication. Something so terrible had happened to him that he needed to put as much distance as he could between him and whatever it was. As he made his way through the forest he trips over a tree branch and ends up face first in a puddle._

_He pulls his head up, grasping for air and looks down._

_In his reflection he sees that he is his younger self, seven years old to be exact going off the clothes he was wearing. Suddenly he hears a noise behind him and he turns around in fright._

_Standing there at a distance was a lone figure, its face covered by the shadows. Suddenly the figure's eyes started glowing white and he takes a step toward Romeo._

**CRASH!**

Romeo's eyes snap wide open and on instinct he is up out of his bed with both hands and feet covered in his magic as he scans his surrounding. Whatever made that noise came from downstairs and as Romeo continue to search he felt something else.

An immense magic level.

The largest he felt since he got back to Magnolia. While it was nowhere near as large as Acnologia, it was still colossal.

It easily surpassed Guild Master Makarov, Mirajane, Requip magic mage, and the Lightning Dragon-Slayer. Whatever this thing was, Romeo would have to be extra cautious in dealing with it.

He dispels his magic and moved silently down the stairs, as he nears the middle of the staircase he notices that the door to the guild hall had been completely devastated and was reduced to mere sawdust. Then he noticed a lone figure standing in the middle of the hall, swaying slightly back and forth.

" _Is he preparing a spell?",_ Romeo thought as he took in as many details as he could of the stranger.

" _Tall, muscular, definitely male. Red hair, judging by the small clanking noises I'm picking up and the locations they're coming from, target most likely has multiple prosthetic limbs possibly made from metal or is wearing armor. Also, if the strong alchol presence and the motion of target's body is any indication, target is not preparing a spell and is instead drunk",_ Romeo analyzed, " _Maybe force will not be necessary."_

"OI, OLD MAN! WHERE YOU AT?!", the figure suddenly yelled, "AM I IN THE RIGHT PLACE ~hiccup~?"

" _Definitely drunk, he also seems to be a friend of Guild Master Makarov",_ Romeo thought as he took a step down the stairs…

Only for it to slightly creak under his weight.

" _ **ALL CRASH**_ ~hiccup~", the figure suddenly yells as he turns around and launches a energy blast of extreme power directly at Romeo.

In the brief window of time that Romeo had to react, three things happen.

First, his eyes became even more unemotional than previously, even going as far as losing their color, leaving Romeo with nearly black pupils. Second, his reflexes increase and he vaults off the stairs over the beam of magic, his feet barely soaring over the attack. And finally, his hands were both encased in the same bluish white magic that spark off of him earlier today.

And he was heading straight at the target.

Gildarts has been having somewhat of a bad day today. He was planning on visiting the new guild hall today since he didn't return with the group when they first got back from Tenrou to see how everyone was doing. He also wanted to see his precious daughter and smother her in fatherly hugs, and inform Master Makarov on the information he dug up while gone. On the way though he came across a roadside tavern and upon realizing that he had some extra cash on him, he decided that he could take a short pit stop and have a pint or two. Several hours later, and he's tumbling into the forest, drunk as a skunk and ending up getting lost for another two hours. He finally made it to the guild hall, open the door, and finds out that no one even there.

He actually took time out of his day to come see them and they weren't even here. One of the main things he wanted to do was smother his little girl in hugs. But when he call for the old man, but he didn't answer and just when he was about head out to camp out in the woods and come back tomorrow he heard the stairs creak behind him.

Now it might have been the alcohol doing all the thinking for him or maybe the fact he was slightly irritated about how his day had turn out or maybe it was simply the fact that he hadn't destroyed part of the guild hall in a good seven years; but before his mind caught up with the rest of his body he was shooting off his All Crash spell at the noise.

Now he knew he would have to answer to the old man for the destroying part of the significantly small guild hall, alongside a possible beaten and bloody person as well, he was expecting that as he fired off his spell…

What he was not expecting was a figure to jump out, dodge his attack, and come at him with both of its hand encased in a whitish blue magic that seem eerily familiar.

But he didn't have time to dwell on that as he leisurely dodged a falling punch to his face, only for his assailant to spin in mid-air and try to kick him in the face. Gildarts grabs his foe's leg mere inches from his head and hurl the attacker into the bar. As the resuming crash echoes throughout the hall, Gildarts could only winch as he wonders how he's going to explain the wreck bar counter to Makarov.

Suddenly the same bluish white light that emitted from the would-be attacker's hand now shone so bright from the same place Gildarts threw him that he had to shield his eyes. Soon the light swirled to together in a spiraling mass of light and then Gildarts heard…

" _ **ROAR OF THE APOCALYPSE DRAGON!",**_ as the mass array of light turned into a beam and was fired straight at him.

_ **At the Strauss' residence** _

Mira was sitting in her room, staring aimlessly out the window at the moon and the stars. Her mind was in a distraught mess after she ran in Romeo's child therapist, Dr. Ghert, while walking home today.

_ **Flashback** _

"Let's see, I need to buy ale, some eggs, some more bread", Mira told herself as she walked through the market on her way home. The market was close for the night, but she planned on getting on this tomorrow morning anyway.

" _Elfman_ _out on a job with Evergreen and Lisanna with Bickslow for the night,_ ", Mira thought as she muses on how much her siblings have grown up, " _Guess it's just me tonight."_

"Miss Strauss! Miss Strauss!"

She turns her head to the side to see a small, plump, man with short brown hair and glasses running toward her.

"Oh, Dr. Ghert, how are you doing this night?", Mira asks though in the back of her mind she wondered what he wanted at this time of night. The man stops a respectable distance from her, putting his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath.

"I was-huff-hoping to run into before Romeo next session this week", he said through deep breath, "I believe I may have discovered the reason why Romeo only remembers certain people from his life before Acnoloiga."

"Really?", Mira said now giving the therapist are full attention, "And how's that?"

"Well as you know, Romeo only seems to remember four people from before: You, Master Makarov, his own father, and that potion lady who you said lived out in the woods, Porlyusica."

"Yes Dr. Ghert, I'm well aware of this fact", the demon of Fairy Tail answer, though she did wonder sometime why Romeo remember her over Natsu.

"Okay then, let me ask you a question.", Dr. Ghert says, "Do you provide care to the other members of your guild? You know like advice and whatnot?"

Mira raises an eyebrow at this but decided to answer the question anyway, "Yes I do. They jokingly refer to my behavior as motherly sometimes."

Dr. Ghert puts his hand under his and rapidly nods his head, "Yes, yes. I see, I see", he mutters out, possibly unaware that while Mira wasn't a dragon-slayer, she still had keen hearing herself.

"Tell me Miss Strauss", Dr. Ghert began again, "What can you tell me about Romeo's mother?"

"Enno?"

"Yes, we have yet to cover it in our sessions, but I would like to gather as much info as I can before attempting to ask Romeo such questions", Dr. Ghert explained.

Mira looks up at the sky while she thinks back on former dancing girl from her early days at Fairy Tail, "Well she was captivated I guess, she was like me in a way as she had the eyes of almost every guy at the guild."

"Okay, I see", Dr. Ghert nodded as he pulls out a pen and pad and started writing down some notes, "Do go on."

"Well I was a flower girl at her and Macao's wedding and I was there the first day they brought Romeo to the guild hall shortly after he was born", Mira reminisced.

"Now as I understand, Romeo's parents are divorced, correct?", Dr. Ghert asked.

"Yes they are, they separated quiet some time ago."

"How long ago would you say they separated? As in perspective of Romeo's age."

Mira thinks on the answer for a moment, "I say Romeo was close to two years old when Enno left Macao."

"Did Romeo know his grandparents at all, on either side of his family?", Dr. Ghert asked.

"I never heard Macao nor Enno discuss their parents before, so I really can't say", Mira answered.

"That explains a lot. Now I won't ask the details behind their divorce, but I like you to hear my theory and tell me what you think", Dr. Ghert said.

"Alright doctor."

"Now I believe the reason Romeo's remember only certain people because he attempted to form familial bonds with them to make up for what he didn't have growing up", he explained.

"I'm afraid I don't understand", Mira confess.

"Okay he obviously remembers Mr. Conbolt because well, it was his father. In theory he remembers Master Makarov because he looked up to him as a grandfather figure", Dr. Ghert said.

"He did used to call him gramps when he was younger", Mira recalled.

"And Porlyusica as his grandmother."

"She does tend to hang around Master Makarov a lot and Macao usually had her check out Romeo when he had no money to take him to a doctor, which seem to be always.", Mira said, "But that still doesn't explain why he remembers me."

"Another question, Miss Strauss. Have you ever provide care to Romeo in the past?"

"Yes, I babysitted him whenever Macao was out on jobs because Mrs. Mine was usually unable to do it, I cooked meals for him because his father couldn't cook to save his life and I tucked him in to sleep in our medical ward for his nap time or whenever Macao got too drunk to take him home", Mira said before her eyes suddenly went wide as realization hit her, "You're not saying..."

"Now this is all just theories, Miss Strauss. But it may seem that to Romeo, subconsciously mind you, that he saw you as his substitute mother when he was younger."

"Then why doesn't he remember Natsu?", Mira asks her voice raising, "He was like a big brother to him!"

"From what I heard about them, their relationship was more of a hero-worshiping one than a mutual brotherly one, fanboyish if you will", Dr. Ghert informed her, "Though there is a possibility that he sees you as a **sister figure**. I assure you that it's fifty/fifty at this point."

"Oh sweet Mavis", Mira whispers to herself.

_ **End of Flashback** _

"Romeo may think of me as his substitute mother", Mira chuckled, though not in a joyful tone, "This has got to be the biggest irony ever. Just as Elfman and Lisanna begin to start their own lives and I thought I was going to be alone, life decides that I might not be done with taking care of people just yet. For Mavis' shake I'm almost twice his age, way too young to be a mother figure for him."

Her eyes wander back to the rest of her room and landed on a picture that sat on her drawers. It showed the whole guild posing for a picture right before they left for Tenrou back in X784. As she looked closer at it she noticed that Macao was busy posing with his one arm around Wakaba and another one holding a mug while Wakaba was doing the same thing to the Purple Flare mage. In the center of the picture Mira was posing with the kids of the guild. Wendy was in the dead center smiling while holding a unamused Carla in her hands while Romeo was being held in the arms of the Satan Soul mage herself with a radiant smile on his face as he wrapped his arms around her neck.

Mira lets out a sigh, "Well there's pretty of evidence to support Dr. Ghert's theory."

Suddenly see a dazzling blue and white beam of light shoot skyward from the forest, illuminating the night sky around the area.

"What was that?", Mira screamed, "That came from the guild hall! Romeo! Master Makarov!"

In a blink of an eye Mira was transformed into her Satan Soul form and taking flight toward the guild hall, praying that nothing bad has happened. She didn't know whether she was more concern for Romeo, Master Makarov, or both of them.

_ **At the Guild Hall** _

The forest was completely devastated around the guild hall with a number of burnt stumps and uprooted trees doting the landscape. The entire front part of the building was gone except for a few hanging pieces of wood that somehow survived the battle. The ground itself had erupted leaving massive trenches leading in all direction. In the middle of the battleground were two figures. The smaller figure was laying face down in the ground, not moving and barely breathing with a slight dribble of blood coming forth from his head while the other figure on the other side was standing straight up scratching his head in embarrassment without a single indication of battle upon him.

"Sorry whoever you are. If I have known you were just a kid I would have held back even more", he confessed, "But seriously, what is a dragon-slayer of Acnologia doing here? And a kid at that."

Suddenly he looks skyward to see Mira floating above him with a distraught look on her face.

"Oi Mira! Am I happy to see you! I need you to help me come up with a way to explain this to the old man before he finds", a blurt moves past him causing his cloak to fly all over the place, "out?"

He turns around to see Mira back in her human form cradling Romeo's head, pressing down on his head wound, "Romeo! Romeo! Say something! Anything!"

"What the?", Gildarts says to himself before he suddenly feels someone else coming up behind him. He turns his head to see Jet coming toward him leaving a dust trail in his wake.

"Mira! I was out for my late night run when I saw the energy blast! What's going on?", he says as he comes up on Gildarts and skids to a stop, "Gildarts? What are you doing here?"

"Came to see how everyone was doing, but putting that aside for now", as Gildarts points over to Mira and Romeo, "Who's that boy over there?"

Jet looks to where the Crash Mage was pointing and nearly freak out, "Romeo!"

"Who?"

"That's Romeo, Macao's son!"

"Macao has a kid?" Gildarts wondered aloud as he to remember, "I heard he got divorce, but-wait. Now that I recall he did have a son."

"Yeah, he was like four when you left, so you probably don't remember him that well! What happen here anyway?", Jet said.

"Well like I said, I stop by for a visit to see how was everyone doing and suddenly the kid attack me with his dragon-slayer magic", Gildarts explains before looking at Jet with a serious face, "Mind explaining to me why Macao's son is using Acnologia's magic?"

"It's a long story and I don't have time to explaining", Jet says as he runs over to Mira.

"I'm going to get Wendy and bring her back here, okay?", Jet tells the eldest Strauss' sibling while she was still looking down at Romeo, who stirs a little.

"Wendy and the others are out on a overnight job and won't be back until noon tomorrow", Mira says without looking at the High Speed mage, "You'll have to go get Porlyusica."

" _Oh sweet magic gods' no_ ", Jet as his face pales. He really didn't want to deal with a piss-off Porlyusica at this time of night but knew he had no choice or else Romeo's might die.

"I'll be back as soon as I can", and with that he was off heading in the direction of Porlyusica's cabin.

Just as Jet's dust trail faded away, a certain Titan mage groggily comes out of the guild hall building through what used to be the front door.

"Who's making all this racket so late at night?", he ask while rubbing his eyes, " Old people like myself need their sleep."

He then takes in the landscape and the scope of the damage done to it. His glance falls on Gildarts, standing there with a somewhat embarrass look on his face. Then it falls on Mira, who was too busy nursing Romeo, who was at this point pretty much unconscious.

The Guild Master could only shake his head at all this, "Never a dull moment here, is there?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Trouble on the Horizon

_**Off the coast of Fiore's Southern Shore** _

The night echo silence as only a few clouds dotted the dark skies. The new moon cycle begun tonight and would continue for five more nights before switching to the next cycle. The waves crash against the sandy beach as a while two sentries of the Royal Fiore Army walk down the beach while going about their patrol.

"Gods, this is boring!", one of the soldiers gripes, "How did we get stuck with late night beach patrol four times in a row?"

"That's what happen when you're late for roll call four times in a row", the other soldier said, "I would like to know how I got dragged down with you."

"Misery loves company", the first soldier chuckled only to receive a slap to the back of the head, "Hey!"

"That's what you get", the offending soldier said before suddenly stopping and looking around.

"What is it?" the first soldier asks, but was ignored as the other soldier continues to look all around even upward, but a few moments later he gave a shrug.

"Thought I heard something", he said.

"Perhaps you ought to go see the garrison doctor when we get back", the first soldier said, "Nothing ever happens on beach patrols. I don't even know why we have them, the navy base nearby monitors the coastline."

"You're probably right. Come on, we still got three hours until we're relief."

The duo walked down the beach, starting up some small chat while doing so.

In the exact location where they stop, more than three hundred feet up on the beach, the air rippled as gave way as the night sky gave way to the illusion of four hundred long flying man-of-war. From the tip of the mast to the bottom of the hull, the ship was all painted black, even the sails were painted to match the night's sky.

On the main deck of the vessel, two figures stood cloak in black while aiming what seem to look like a rifle of some sort.

"We could take them out from here, ma'am", the cloak figure on the right said with an iron voice while still aiming his rifle at the soldiers on the beach.

"And what about the bodies, First Sergeant Gidur?", a feminine voice that carry the weight of authority with it asked, while she stood aim her gun.

"The tide would wash them away, ma'am", Sgt. Gidur answered.

"Right into the sight of the naval patrols", she countered, "May I remind you that this is a top secret mission?"

"No, Major Tyeri,", the sergeant almost snap to attention before remembering he still has his rifle pointed, "You don't have to remind me that our units was selected by Sir August of the Spriggan 12 himself to complete this mission or that the Emperor himself approve it."

"Good, now holster your rifle", Major Tyeri ordered, "These things are experimental as is the cloaking device on the ship and they were only provide to us for this mission. Let's not go wasting them on rank and file soldiers."

"Yes ma'am", as Gidur shouldered his rifle and then looked at his watch, "Ma'am, it is almost time for the briefing."

"I'm well aware of that, First Sergeant Gidur", as she turned on her heels, her cloak swishing in the wind, and proceed to walk toward the cabin as the ship drifted inland. Along the way she stopped by the helm and address the sailor currently driving the ship onto its destination.

"Take us higher up and into one of these cloud and send word to me when we're ready to dock for the day", she commanded to which the sailor salute in response.

As the bow of the ship began to slightly lean upward as the ship begun it ascension into the clouds, both Major Tyeri and First Sergeant Gidur entered a small cabin where five other cloaked figures stood at attention around a table with a map of Fiore on it.

"At ease", Major Tyeri says as she strolls to the front of the table and turn to address the group. Sergeant Gidur remains at the door, watching and listening for wandering eyes.

"All you are all well aware of, we are on an important mission for his Imperial Majesty", Major Tyeri begun, "One that will make our invasion of this country easier when the time comes. We of the 7th Elite Shadow Guard have been task with securing vital assets that the higher echelon believe could give us the edge in future warfare."

There was a murmuring amongst the five figure, but Major Tyeri raised a hand to silence them.

"Now I am also aware that no one beside myself and First Sergeant Gidur know the full details of the mission", Major Tyeri said to which the five figures nod their heads.

"That was for security purposes, I assure you. As you are all aware of, First Sergeant Gidur has served with me for almost twenty years, ever since I was a third lieutenant in the Imperial Army; when Sir August asks me to bring along someone I could trust when he brief me, he was the first name to come to mind", Major Tyeri explained, "But that is all in the past, now that we're getting closer to our objective, I will disclose the full details of our mission."

She reaches into her cloak and pulls out a circular hologram disc and places it in the center of the map. A blue light shines and the image of an exceed is projected upward.

"This, my captains, is a exceed. There is a estimate five thousand of them residing within Fiore. They looks like ordinary cats that walks upright, they can talk, they can socialize with humans, and they even have a hierarchy with a queen at the top of it", Major Tyeri started, "They can also sprout wings and carry a full grown man quite a reasonable distance, our scientists estimate up to a hundred miles, before they have to rest."

The cloaked figures study the image for a moment before the Major continued, "In X784 these creatures appeared in Fiore from an unknown land and have established diplomatic ties with Fiore's Royal Family. They have since been declare citizens of Fiore and they even employ an ambassador in the Royal Palace."

"So what do they have to do with us, ma'am?", the tallest cloak figure asked.

"Certain generals believe that they could be use as a highly mobile transport unit. The fact that they can carry such a heavy load despite their small bodies has caught the attention of even the emperor himself."

"But ma'am, we already have flying vessels that are considered the fastest in the world", another cloaked captain said, "Why waste the time and resources attaining this...things?"

"While our ships are indeed swift, they still present a large target to ground fire and any air defenses the opposition may have. The exceeds have been documented as being highly agile in the air, even while carrying someone. Imagine them launching from our ships, far out of reach of the enemies defense. From landing forces on the enemies' castle walls to positioning our own troops behind enemy's lines, these creatures provide with a new style of warfare that the upper chain of command want to utilize for the invasion of Fiore."

"What are our objectives, ma'am?", the tall cloaked captain asked.

"We are to secure at least five hundred of these creatures to bring back to Alvarez for experimenting and testing. Surely with the five hundred men we brought with us, I see no reason why we can't secure more if not all of them."

"When does the mission begin, ma'am?" the middle cloaked captain asked.

"Tomorrow", she answered, "We will reach their village some time in the morning and we'll proceed from there. Now as a secondary objective, we're to secure their queen if possible. If we capture her first, we would instantly break the morale of their soldiers and their will to resist; thus making the capturing process as well as the experimenting process later on all the smoother."

She looks around the table at each one of the cloaked figures, "You have your orders. Tell the men to get well rested for tomorrow this operation must go off without any complications and it must go off quickly. Intel suggests that there is a two-hour window before the local army garrison can respond to an attack on the exceed village. We must be in and out before they arrive, do you understand?"

All five figures snap to attention and present a salute, "Ma'am, we understand, ma'am!"

Major Tyeri could help but smiled under her hood, "Good, remember we're the 7th Elite Shadow group of the Alvarez Empire. We hide our identifies even from each other; only revealing our faces once we find an opponent worthy enough to know them. We have never failed a mission, we have never known defeat! We will succeed in our mission and there is not a single person in this whole backwater country that can stop us! That even may more true by the fact that our secret weapon is confide within this very ship!"

"ALL HAIL THE EMPEROR!", everyone in the room pop to attention and screamed, including First Sergeant Gidur.

"All hail the emperor", Major Tyeri repeated.

**Fairy Tail Guild Hall**

It would take an hour for Jet to travel to the Potion mage's house and back and it would only take that long because Jet had to convince her to come while trying to dodge a deadly swinging broom. During that time Master Makarov, Mira, and Gildarts carefully move Romeo to one of the bed upstairs. Mira attended to his wounds as best she could but he still refused to wake up. Meanwhile, Gildarts and Master Makarov talk off in the corner.

"Old man, so explained to me why does Macao's son has Acnologia's dragon-slayer magic?," he asked to which Makarov simply shook his head.

"This is what happen when you decide to run off on another journey instead of sticking around like everyone else wants you to," Makarov chastised him, "You would have been here the same time everyone else discovered it."

"You have a point there," Gildarts agreed, "But I had to go find out anything I could about Acnologia."

"And what exactly did you find out?", Makarov asked.

"He has been searching for something. For the past seven years he has been scourging the entire continent of Ishgar and sometimes beyond for something of extreme value," Gildarts explained, "I heard a few times that he had a kid traveling with him, but I never expected it be someone like Romeo".

"Hmm, Romeo did mention that he spend the last seven years traveling from place to place with Acnologia, getting trained along the way. He said that they rarely stay in one place for more than two days before moving on," Makarov recalled.

"Maybe we can ask him when he wakes up," Gildarts suggested.

"If he wakes up!", Mira snapped from across the room, "Honestly, what were you thinking fighting him to that extend?!"

"He attacked me!", Gildarts argued.

"Romeo only attacks someone if they surprise him or they attack him first!" Mira argued back, "Surely you much have saw from the beginning of your fight that his attacks didn't faze you; so why would you actually hit him back?"

"Was that a trick question?", Gildarts ask causing Mira's eyes to widen in anger as she stood up and stomp over to the Crash Mage.

"Romeo isn't like Natsu!", she roared as she embedded her finger into his chest, "He can't shrug off near fatal attacks like they never happen! You should know better!"

Gildarts didn't speak for a moment for he was genuine surprise by Mira's outburst. He hasn't seen this side of her since the old days when she and Erza used to fight on a daily basis. But that only lasted for a moment before he composed himself.

"All I know is that I came to guild hall to see how everyone was doing", he began.

"At one in the morning!", Mira pointed out.

"And he attacked me!", Gildarts finished.

"So giving a fourteen year old boy blunt trauma to the head was your solution? How exactly are you going to explain this to everyone should the worse come to past, huh?", Mira asked.

"Enough!", Makarov's voice boomed, "I will not have two of the guild's strongest arguing it out like children! We'll wait for Porlyusica to arrive and go from there!"

Mira stare hard at Gildarts for a few seconds before turning on her heels and going back to attending to Romeo.

"All I wanted to do was get a moment's peace while Natsu and the others were out", Makarov grumbled, "Was that too much to ask?"

**Downtown Magnolia**

It was located in the lower income part of Magnolia, a moderate apartment complex with a few broken windows and graffiti walls. The resident of this building all work deadbeat jobs and the only reason any of them got to have a roof over their heads was because of the low rent the tenant charge for the place; but like the saying goes, you get what you pay for; constant leaks from under maintenance pipes, thin paper walls, loud neighbors, and who could forget the rodent problem?

It was here in a mediocre, one bed room apartment that the residential Sandstorm mage, Max Alors, called home. Due to the lack of jobs Fairy Tail received after its fall from fame, they that chose to stay with the guild were force to make dramatic budget cuts in order to make ends meet. This especially became a problem for Alzack and Bisca when they got married and Bisca found out that she was pregnant. Luckily thanks to some help from Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale who were kind enough to divert some high paying jobs of their own Fairy Tail way, they were able to come out ahead.

But while the Connells were doing just fine; the rest of the remaining members barely scrapped by.

And that is the situation Max found himself in once again as he was going through his finances.

"Damn", he cussed, "If I don't get a big job soon, I might not be able to go to Desierto this year."Now most people would assume that he wanted to travel to Desierto for recreational purposes and even he couldn't blame them if they did, but his reasoning had more to do with his magic then anything else, for you see Max's Sandstorm magic came with a secondary ability…Absorption Anchor magic. This magic is found commonly in almost all types of Sand magic as well as Water Magic and even Ash magic. Both Juvia and Wakaba's wife and daughter use Absorption Anchor in their magic.

The mechanics behind Absorption Anchor magic are actually quite simple. Because sand, water, and ash magic usually require the user to product large quantities of said element in order to pull off spells; in retrospect one can easily assume that this requires large amount of magic to do so, which it does. In order to counter this a mage can place a magic circle in a location where large amounts of their magic element can be found and this allowed you to draw upon the element through the magic circle to fuel your spells whenever you cast them, thus avoiding the necessary magic drain that other magic users such as fire and air have to do.

Due to a medical condition he had called MRD (Magic Reserve Deficiency, basically his magic energies stores are smaller than the average mage and won't get any bigger) Max lacked the insanely large amounts of magic that guys like Natsu, Laxus, and Erza had. Hell, his natural magic reserves were more than likely the lowest in the guild and he was pretty sure that Asuka would have more natural magic than him once she reached her teen years. Take in the fact that his Sandstorm magic required a sufficient amount of magic compare to other types of Sand magic to perform and it's reasonable to believe that he really didn't have much of a choice when it came to choosing the anchoring method.

Speaking of the anchoring method, Max remembers Wakaba telling him some time ago that both his wife and daughter place their anchors on a volcanic island off the coast of Fiore. The volcano there is mostly dormant but it produces moderate quantities of ash year round.

Juvia on the other hand, well when Max first ask Juvia where she put her seven years ago, (he deduced with how often she flooded the guild hall with her tears she must have had one) she replied at first it was at the bottom of a fresh water lake that connected to the ocean not far from Phantom Lord's former guild hall, but she had since moved it to the lake behind the First Fairy Tail guild hall. But then he was shocked when she told him that she easily had the magic needed to not rely on it, it is mostly used as a back-up should she ever need it. That made sense in hindsight, better safe than sorry.

Juvia's location also made sense because most water mages place their "anchors" usually in deep underwater locations, nine times out of ten the ocean, but of course the drawback is that means that the water they produce isn't consumable. This showed that Juvia actually put some thought into deciding where to put her anchor for her magic.

For water mages it was easy, for sand mages not so much. Fiore and the surrounding nations didn't have any deserts and the only place Max could place his anchor in all of Ishgar was in the country of Desierto, because despite what most people believe there was no distance restraints on Absorption Anchor magic. One could literally place their anchor on the other side of the world and still be able to call upon the surrounding elements to power their spells. Of course every magic has it drawbacks and Absorption Anchor had three…

First, should the area your anchor is located in ever lose it element, such as your body of water being drained or whatnot, you're out of luck. If you have nothing to absorb, you'll have to draw upon your own magic pool for your spells and beside the exception of Juvia, most Sand, Water, and Ash mages usually choose this method because they had low magic reserves.

Second, if anyone was to find your anchor and dispel it, (the magic circle stays visible to the human eye even if the caster isn't using magic), you were screw because if a anchors is disrupt by anyone other than the person who cast it, it sent a nasty backlash back toward the original caster (sometime it can be near fatal) and in the process that person can't cast another anchor for quite some time, up to a year at most. Now this meant that most users of this type of magic went to great lengths to hide their magic circles and keep it hidden for prowling eyes, Max himself had to hide his underneath a sand dune in the middle of Desierto. The fact that both Juvia and Wakaba's told him the almost exact locations of either their own or their significant others anchors showed the great amount of trust they had in him.

Last but not least, the anchoring magic circle only last for a year before it fades away. No matter how powerful or talented you were, no matter how much magic you put into it, it will disappear a year from the day you place it. Wakaba's wife and daughter make yearly trips to the island to rejuvenate their circles while Max had to make an annual trip to the middle of Desierto to do the same to his. The consequences of allowing your anchor to fade are almost the same as if someone else dispelled it; you don't get the nasty backlash but you can't cast another anchor for a year.

Now the problem that Max was having is that he was five month away from his circle fading and he wasn't sure if he would have enough money to go this year. This was a problem for him because while the Tenrou group was "dead" Max became Fairy Tail's strongest mage; follow close behind by Alzack, then Laki, and then Bisca. While he knew without a doubt that he has lost that title to Ezra, Mira, and the other upon their return, he still wanted to be considered a member in the upper levels of the guild power rankings. Before Tenrou happen, he was considered to be in the upper middle class of the rankings, just below Lisanna, Elfman, and Levy. This meant that while he wasn't weak he sure as hell wasn't strong.

" _Which is why I hope that this team thing pays out",_ Max thought, " _With guys like Gajeel and Mira, we should be able to pull off some high paying jobs."_

Max sits there for a moment contemplating what he just said.

"Team, huh?" Max said aloud, "I only join this team in hopes of earning more money. Shit, I never really done anything outside solo jobs beside a couple with Alzack here and there."

Max brings up a hand and summons a small tornado of sand in his palm, "Can't go to sleep, might as well practice", he said as he began to focus his mind in hopes of becoming one with the sand and finally attaining the power of intangible. The numbers of water mages who have reach this pinnacle of element magic you could count on two hands, the number of sand mages you could count on one and still have fingers left over. Knowing that Juvia reached that stage at such a young age fill Max with hope that he too could become a sand mage of legend and achieve something that was considered beyond reach for many aspiring sand mages.

But unfortunately, the fact remain that Max has been trying for seven years now and he feels that he hasn't made any headway. He had heard rumors of a mage across the ocean, Max thinks his name was Ajeel, who achieved the power to become one with the sand, but the odds of Fairy Tail's Sand mage ever meeting him were highly unlikely.

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, Max sees a bluish white beam of light shoot out from the forest was near the guild hall.

"What the hell?"

_**Fairy Hills** _

She was bored.

Laki Olietta, The Wood-Make mage of Fairy Tail, was beyond bored.

It has been two months since her last boyfriend ran screaming out of Fairy Hills, (back then it was only Kinana and her staying there, so the "No Boys" allowed rule was bent a little), saying how she was a sadistic demon spawn from the deepest, darkest, pit of the abyss while wearing nothing more than his boxer shorts with multiple lashes mark around his body.

Laki sighs lovely as got up from her bed that just so happen to also be a torture rack; at least he complimented her as he fled.

Now she needed a new toy to take out her special urges on. The last one lasted longer than anyone else; even go as far as trying to lie to her that he was a masochist. Laki knew from the get-go that he wasn't telling the truth but she decided to humor him. For a while he was fun to play with, at least until she brought out the heavy stuff and that when they crack.

Oh well, it wasn't like she was into the dating scheme for love anyway. To her, love was for people who were afraid to be alone, not someone like her who was in it for fun. She kept her heart close off from those types of relationships. Hell, her main spells went by the names such as: _**Wood-Make: The Distance between the Two is Forever**_ and _**Wood-Make: Heart's Sense of Distance.**_ If that didn't tell you what her opinion was about dating relationships, nothing did.

Anyway another issue had been brought to her attention in-between her two-month downtime from dating...she was strap (no pun intended) for cash.

The cost it took to prevent termites from eating her art on top of paying rent and attaining her...special purchases was mounting up and the jobs coming in were low in reward. That's why when Levy approached her this morning about joining a team she was actually intrigued to the idea. Guild teams usually take on higher paying jobs and actually gain a sort of fame while doing so, if Erza and her team was anything to go off of. She remembers how much attention both the Requip mage and Lucy got from the male populace as their fame grew.

So first of all she was going to use this "team" to help Fairy Tail rise back up to the top. The guild always been good to her and she is willing to do whatever it takes to get it back on its feet, and hopefully become famous in the process.

And maybe, just maybe, that fame could be use to attract more potential boy toys for her to play with. For now she'll go along with this team until it gets her what she wants, money and new toys to have fun with.

Just as he started to laugh in a evil professor manner before she noticed a bluish white light shot up into the sky from the forest.

"Was that from the guild hall?"

**Levy's Room**

"Is that Laki's laughing I hear?", Levy asks to no one in particular as she strain her ear to hear better. After a moment the laughter stopped and Levy simply went back to her book. For some reason she couldn't sleep tonight; to be honest she hasn't been getting a lot of sleep for past few nights and she couldn't figure out the reason why. At least that's what she told herself; her subconscious on the other hand knew exactly why, if the dreams she been having about Tenrou Island were anything to go off of. Her eyes flickered over to the blue leather book that lay across the table from her.

"No", she told herself.

Her eyes glance over at the title on the spine.

"You don't need to read that book because you don't have an issue", she says aloud.

She sees the handmade bookmark that was sticking out from the middle of the novel.

"It was just a pasting curiosity, nothing more", as she lets out a nervous laugh.

She finds herself standing up and walking to the other end of the table.

"Maybe I ought of loan it to Lucy, surely she would get more used out of it than me", as she picks it up and stares at it for a moment before letting out a frustrating scream before stopping a puffing out her cheeks.

"Fine", she finally submitted, "Maybe a chapter or two tonight."

Suddenly the door to her room is swung open, catching Levy by surprise and forcing her to slam the book on the table with a reverberating thump. She turns around in a fright only to see a panting Laki standing in her doorway.

"There's something going on at the guild hall! I just saw a strange light shoot up into the sky from there!", Laki explained as she leaned on the doorknob for support.

Levy stands there in silence for a moment while processing the information, "Doesn't Master Makarov and Romeo stay at the guild hall?"

Laki nods.

"We should go check it out then!", Levy says as she runs for the door.

"Should we use a net to gather everyone else up?", Laki asks to which Levy shakes her head.

"Almost everyone else is out on a overnight job right now or they're on the other side of town", Levy explained.

"Does Gajeel lived nearby?", Laki ask.

Levy feels her face heat up at the question, "W-why are you asking me?"

Laki simply shrugged, "No reason, I just assume you knew."

"His place is on the way to the guild", Levy admitted.

"Then we better stop by and get him along the way", and with that Laki takes off leaving a still blushing Levy in her wake. The Solid Script looks down at the book she slammed on the table and let out a tired sigh, "Guess I'm not getting any reading tonight."

She takes a deep breath and sprint after Laki, leaving the thousand-page book, " _ **How To Get A Oblivious Idiot To Notice You",**_ laying on the table.

_**Gajeel's and Pantherlily's house.** _

"That's your sixth drink tonight", Pantherlily pointed out, "And you just started drinking two hours ago."

"Yeah, what of it?", Gajeel complained as he down the bottle.

"I thought you be happy today. You were easily able to put together your team and tomorrow we head for the village", the exceed warrior said, "So why do you look so miserable?"

"Not miserable, just got a weird feeling that I'm about to walk into storm here soon", he answered as his door is kicked off the hinges and both Levy and Laki entered the room.

"You're paying for that door", Gajeel simply says as he raises a eyebrow at the fact that it was Levy who kicked it open.


End file.
